Strategic management focuses on accomplishing organizational goals and objectives. The research focuses on the three management strategies. The strategies are generic, value discipline, and grand strategy. The research also focuses on the critical factors needed to ensure profitability and portfolio management. Strategic management will increase revenues and profits.
McDonalds Corporations is existing business enterprise that has sustained it fast food market leadership successfully by levering on a generic strategy. The company’s marketing strategy is to engage in the fast food market segment. The company has revolutionized the food industry by introducing a restaurant strategy that caters to people who are on the go.
The increase in the number of McDonalds outlets selling hamburgers, French fries, breakfast meals, and other menu items shows that it offers something that the regular restaurants do not offer; a niche market. The McDonalds Company offers speed; McDonalds Clients are served faster than Restaurant clients. Further, McDonalds offers lower prices; restaurant prices are generally higher than McDonalds prices (Mieth, 2007).
The Wal-Mart chain of department and warehouse stores is an existing enterprise that has sustained its market leadership by successfully incorporating value discipline. The company offers high quality products that cater to the discriminating clients. The company gets back its lost revenues from reduced selling prices by increasing its client base.
The company generates profits by streamlining its operations and setting up a supply chain strategy to reduce avoidable costs. The innovative marketing strategy of Wal-Mart plus its brand marketing strategy catapults the company into the top five corporations in the world in terms of revenues (Fishman, 2006).
Federal Express is an letter and package delivery business enterprise that retains its market leadership by successfully leveraging a grand strategy. The company’s strategy is to deliver letters, parcels, and boxes from one location to another location located in any part of the civilized world faster than the other competitors can deliver.
The company’s non-coercive diplomacy has allowed the company to set up branches in major cities around the world. Due to its long term plan to increase world revenues in the letter, parcel, and package delivery market segment, the Federal Express planes are allowed to land in major airports around the world to handle the voluminous inventory items needed by Federal Express clients.
The company’s distinctive conceptual framework is to maximize scarce resources to increase revenues in the delivery service industry on a long term basis (Coglianese, 2006).
There are many challenges in managing a group of companies held under one portfolio. First, each company is competing with the other companies within the portfolio to be the top revenue producer as well the highest net profit generator (Wenderoth, 2009). Likewise, each company held under one portfolio has its own set of expenses to be controlled.
Management will have to allocate enough time to control each of the different costs and expenses of the different companies grouped under one portfolio. Lastly, each company has its own set of marketing strategies that needs to be addressed.
Diverse companies have different marketing strategies; Procter & Gambel has a portfolio of companies that include Folgers Coffee, Norwich Eaton, Richardson –Vicks, Noxell, Shulton’s Old Spice, Max Factor, Gillette, and Thomas Hadley Company (Dalzell, 2004).
Kentucky Fried Chicken is an enterprise that continues to be consistently successful for many years. The company focuses on selling uniquely tasting chicken products. The clients have grown in numbers because of the unique chicken recipe. The company has set up branches in many cities around the world. The secret recipe composed of 11 spices and herbs was crafted by its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952.
The company changed its name from KFC to its original name, Kentucky Fried Chicken. This strategic branding activity increased revenues and profits. Specifically, the clients love the unique gravy concoctions invented by Colonel Harland Sanders (Fekete, 2003).
The above companies have emphasized the importance of focusing on the company’s critical success factors. The critical factors include the price of the reasonableness of the price of the products, the place where the store is located, the product quality, people employed, and the promotional strategies.
In addition, the company’s managerial functions that include planning, organizing, directing, and controlling are factors needed to increase profits (Dess, 2009).
BRIEFLY, strategic management focuses on attaining organizational goals and objectives. The successful companies implement generic strategy, value discipline, and grand strategy.
The companies discussed in the prior paragraphs indicate the importance of strategic management activities grounded on marketing strategy and strategic management functions. Strategic management will increase revenues and profits.
References
Coglianese, C. (2006). Leveraging the Private Sector. New York: Resource for the Future Press.
Dalzell, F. (2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 years of Band Bulding. Harvard: Harvard Business Press.
Dess, G. (2009). Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages. New York: McGraw -Hill Press.
Fekete, S. (2003). Companies are People, too: Discover, Develop, and Grow your Organization’s True Personality. New York: J Wiley & Sons Press.
Fishman, C. (2006). The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works. New York: Penguin Books.
Mieth, M. (2007). The History of McDonald’s. New York: Grin Press.
Wenderoth, M. (2009). Particularities in the Marketing Mix for Service Corporations. New York: Grin Press.